One of the biggest challenges marketers often face is figuring out how to run their business and getting more results while using up fewer resources.
It’s all about maximizing profitability, which is essentially getting more while investing less.
But remember that when it comes to meeting the demands of customers, you’ll only need to focus on delivering in specific key areas to convince them to go with your product or service, instead of someone else’s.
Why you shouldn’t be afraid of cost-cutting
Small business owners might be filled with a sense of dread at the mere mention of the words “cost-cutting.”
However, what does the phrase mean, anyway? It doesn’t necessarily mean you need a drastic change in your current operations. On the contrary, it’s an opportunity to see where your business could save more money.
And as the owner, you’re free to re-invest this money into improving aspects of your business you feel would benefit the most. Again, what’s so bad about that?
Ineffective marketing: the most common money-eating problem for businesses
Whether you’re already an established business or a start-up one, it’s possible you’re using up too many resources on marketing tactics that just aren’t producing results. And if you don’t do something about it, you’re likely going to run your business to the ground.
So, the question now is, how can a business be more effective at allocating resources, preferably spending less while maintaining or improving traffic, sales, conversions, and more?
Good question. In this post, we’re sharing with you exactly how:
1. Really Get to Know Your Customers
Just how well do you know the people you’re selling to? And more importantly, are your current customers your ideal ones?
If your answer to both questions is “I’m not sure” or “I don’t know,” it’s a guarantee that you’re running your marketing strategy completely wrong. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution to the problem.
Almost every successful marketing campaign share one thing in common: a clear and detailed buyer persona.
A buyer persona helps to give direction to all your marketing efforts. And if you don’t already have one, or if you do but aren’t using it often, now’s the perfect time to look into it more. To build a kick-ass buyer persona, use the following as a guideline:
- Gather as many actionable data as you can on current customers.
- Clearly define the qualities and background of your perfect customer.
- Identify the best channels for reaching your perfect customer.
- Compile all your data and weed out the unnecessary.
- Create a buyer persona sheet, complete with relevant information and a visual representation. You can use tools like AvatarMaker.com for the latter.
Knowing who your target buyers are and where they can be found helps you identify which channels are worth investing and which to ditch.
After all, the point is to save money. You don’t want to spend valuable resources trying to market to the wrong people and on the wrong platforms.
2. Repurpose Your Content
If you haven’t already jumped on the content marketing bandwagon, now’s the time to. Content marketing is one of the best and affordable ways to reach your target audience. But it isn’t just about churning out blog post after blog post.
Instead of investing more money in creating new content, why not try turning existing posts into other content products, like an eBook or a weekly podcast?
If you don’t want to pay for a freelance graphic designer, you can easily design professional-looking eBook covers with tools like Canva or BeFunky.
Repurposing your content and setting it up for distribution across multiple channels is a great way of getting content out there that’s still relevant, engaging, yet costs less or nothing at all to do.
More great ideas for repurposed content:
- Webinars
- Round-up posts
- Case studies
- Slide presentation
- Infographic
3. Improve Users’ Website Experience
Instead of spending money on premium website plugins, flashy themes, and overwhelmingly colorful ad banners, why not just focus on the user?
It’s amazing how many online business owners waste resources on trying to make their website look the coolest of the bunch. ‘Cool’ isn’t everything. You need convenient.
Make your site mobile optimized, build a better navigation menu, make sure every piece of design element and content on your site is well-thought-out. In fact, did you know that Google rewards sites that are fully mobile-optimized by ranking them higher in results pages? That’s right.
And most importantly, make sure your pages are loading fast enough.
We love using GTmetrix.com for a detailed analysis of how our website is performing in terms of page loading and optimization. And it even tells you where your website needs fixing (neat!).
4. Use Free Tools
Thanks to technology and the Internet, there are dozens of free marketing tools at our disposal. In fact, the tools we’ve shared with you in the previous points are all free.
If you’re a savvy business owner, you’ll always use free tools. Especially if you don’t have a need for more premium features. So, if you think you have a subscription or monthly membership to a premium tool right now, maybe it’s time to look for free or cheaper options.
Here are a few other awesome online tools that can really do wonders for your marketing campaigns that won’t cost you a dime:
- Social media management: Hootsuite and Buffer
- Web Analytics: Google analytics and Rebrandly
- Mobile optimization: Google Mobile-Friendly Test and ThinkWithGoogle
There are plenty more out there, depending on what you want to do. Don’t be afraid to do a little digging and test out tools you haven’t before. Just because it’s free, doesn’t mean it isn’t as effective as paid tools.
On the other hand, if you’d like to implement more technical marketing strategies, such as PPC Advertising Idaho or search engine optimization, we strongly suggest seeking help from either professional consultants or agencies, even if it means paying more.
5. Target the right keywords
If you want to spend less on your marketing campaigns, all while still getting truckloads of traffic, targeting the right set of keywords is crucial.
The good news is, with reliable online tools like LongTailPro, finding the right keywords to use for your marketing campaign is dead-easy.
Here’s how the keyword tool looks from the inside.
After entering your keyword in the “Seed Keywords” box, LongTailPro can come up with truckloads of keyword suggestions in a matter of seconds. Not only that, but the online tool will also give you some data about the keyword suggestions so you’ll know if targeting them is worth it.
When deciding which keywords to target, be sure to consider the buying intent that it represents. After all, while having traffic is great, you need to make sure that you’re getting the right ones — those who intend to buy your products.
Final Thoughts
Knowing the best ways to allocate your resources isn’t something marketers can perfect overnight. It’s a skill that has to be learned. And as your business grows, so will your experience and knowledge.
Don’t be afraid to take bold steps to cut costs where you think necessary. A little discomfort may frighten you, but sometimes you need to keep the bigger picture in mind.
If you believe the end result is a more successful business, then cost-cutting should be an exciting and worthwhile step towards accomplishing your biggest marketing goals.
